Notable Activity
With the General Assembly on break, there is little news from the state legislature this week. However, as of July 2, Governor Stein has 40 bills pending review. He has signed 22 and vetoed four so far. Among the bills he signed last week is House Bill 1012 – Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part II, adding an additional $700 million toward Hurricane Helene Recovery. Highlights of the funds include:
- $270 million from the North Carolina Department of Transportation budget for Western North Carolina repairs
- $75 million for private road and bridges replacement and repair
- $70 million for local government capital repairs
- $65 million to repair and rebuild damaged schools
- $51.5 million for no-interest loans for local government
- $18 million toward wildfire preparation
While Raleigh has been quiet, Washington, D.C. has more than made up for it as Congress debates H.R.1 – One Big Beautiful Bill Act. While there are several provisions that will be helpful to local governments, among the bill’s provisions are new workforce requirements and eligibility checks that must be administered by county division of social services offices, plus changes to the programs’ funding models which will shift hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government’s responsibility on to state and county budgets.
Federal changes to the SNAP and Medicaid programs will force North Carolina (and its counties) to either raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue, shift those funds from other government programs and initiatives, reduce SNAP and Medicaid services to fit current revenue availability, or pull out from the programs altogether. Any of those decisions will impact the services our residents receive, as well as healthcare providers, grocery stores, and farmers who rely on federal dollars from those programs to operate in areas that otherwise struggle to keep those necessities available.
H.R.1 also includes increased eligibility checks and work requirements for persons participating in SNAP and Medicaid. Those checks are administered by the county division of social services offices, which are already under strain from staffing shortages, reporting deadlines, and accuracy requirements that directly impact how many federal dollars the state receives. The bill’s new language requires more frequent checks and narrower accuracy requirements, which will necessitate more staff and more training to ensure North Carolina is not penalized as the bill is implemented and the new reporting requirements go into effect. Without funds to hire and properly train new staff, counties will struggle to meet their new requirements.
NCACC opposes the provisions that place new pressure on the state and our counties and has been in frequent contact with Congressional leaders and staff about our concerns. We have had numerous conversations about ways Congress can ensure that North Carolina is not penalized for its county-administered structure, and how counties are going to require assistance as they bear much of the burden of implementation. Congressional leadership have a self-imposed deadline of submitting the bill to the President by July 4.